Panic Attack

The article I’m Dying: What a Panic Attack Feels Like is one of the most popular posts on this site, with over 350 comments. Many of the comments–some are very long–are heartbreaking: relationships wrecked, jobs lost, fear trailing like a shadow. Over and over people describe how panic attacks affect them: In response to heart [...]

Anxiety Disorders cause severe distress and disrupt the lives of individuals suffering from them. The frequency and intensity of anxiety involved in these Disorders is often debilitating. Fortunately, with proper and effective treatment, people suffering from Anxiety Disorders can lead normal, productive, and happy lives. Many people think of treatment for Anxiety Disorders as being [...]

You experience a pounding heart, sweaty palms, and dizziness. What do you think of? Are you frightened? Do you think you’re going crazy? People who get scared when they have these symptoms — even if the cause is something as mundane as stress, exercise or caffeine — are more likely to develop a clinical case [...]

Why are there so many names for phobias? Why can’t we just agree on one for each? If you have the fear of newness or novelty, you get to choose among 8 terms: Cainophobia, Cainotophobia, Cenophobia, Centophobia, Kainolophobia, Kainophobia, Kainotophobia, and Neophobia. The fear of being touched has 6 names to describe it, and the [...]

You’ve heard all the hurtful words before — words like “psycho,” “wacko,” and “schizo.” Then there are the offhand descriptions of someone’s behavior as “OCD” or “having a panic attack.” Advertisements regularly use mental illness symptoms to show how miserable life is without their products. And you’ve seen the jokes about mental health on television referring [...]